


On My Own

by AwokenMonster



Category: Are You The One? (Season 8), Are you the one?
Genre: Fuck Max' Haters, Justin's Supportive, M/M, Max Is Boss, On My Own by Ashes Remain, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-09-29 20:10:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20441822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwokenMonster/pseuds/AwokenMonster
Summary: Max could stand his ground, Justin never doubted that, but there are different ways to fight alongside someone than by going into battle with them.Aka the fic where I love Max for Max and as an amazing dude who's also dating Justin because I'm a Jax Stan and refresh their Twitter like fanboy trash.Max/JustinRated T for the show's nature.





	On My Own

**Author's Note:**

> Monster: Hi guys! It's a little unfortunate Max feels underappreciated. I loved Max before Jax was a thing and I'd love to get to know him, but it's all just such a bad timing. Because his Anti-Jax-thing, feels like he'd slowly preparing us for the disappointment on Monday that Jax is dead.  
That's mainly why I was pissed after his "I hope you love me regardless of who I'm with or not with" because I was like "Really? You wanna shower us with Jax on social media and then prepare us for you guys not being a match and not even being in love anymore? K thanks for breaking our hearts.".  
Buuut I understand now. Max is just a sweetheart looking for some love because everyone is either "I love Jax" or "I don't love Jax, but I love Justin".  
Literally every non-Jax fan I've seen, hates Max and it's awful because Max is the best. I relate SO BAD to his "I don't want to be defined by my relationship" because I've said that shit so many times to my boyfriend who's all "I want to be your other half!".  
I don't have a Twitter and can't show my support to Max besides writing a fic that he'll never see, but he's an awesome boi, he'll get through this. ENJOY!
> 
> So this fic uses lyrics again, like my first two fics. The song is On My Own by Ashes Remain and reminded me of Jax as soon as I heard it again. Be careful what you say about the song, because it's been one of my favourite songs for yeaaaaars as a part of the discovery of my love for alternative music.
> 
> I don't mean to imply in any way that I'm disrespecting Max by writing a Jax fic about his current struggles with the fandom. I support both Max and Justin ^-^ I just love them as a couple too lol.

Max refused to look at his phone. What use did it have anyway? Amongst endless streams of supportive messages, he’d find that one negative message and the one negative message would let his mood drop further onto the floor. That wasn’t what he was aiming for today. Especially not this early in the morning. He’d already had enough troubles this morning – and it was only 9am.

_There’s gotta be another way out_.

He was starting to feel himself slip away in the eyes of the masses. He could feel their expectations, their judgement, their hate. All because he didn’t like Justin’s picture within an hour, because he didn’t retweet anything Jax-related, because he doesn’t fly to see Justin every goddamn weekend. Didn’t these people know how much a plane ticket cost?! Ironic to think about that though – you’ll see. He was starting to doubt who he was from being a half of a whole to everyone.

_I’ve been stuck in a cage with my doubt._

Today he’d finally gotten sick of it. He’d finally told everyone that the reason he hadn’t been all about Jax, the reason he had asked to do a non-Jax live, was just because he was getting sick of losing his individuality for the sake of the Jax Stans. Not all Jax Stans, he loved the Jaxnation, but some of them just took it way too far. It had _hurt_ when he read those Reddit comments. So of course, he’d finally told them he wanted to be seen as an individual, as the good person he was.

_I’ve tried forever getting out on my own._

It didn’t exactly go as planned. Besides Justin giving a dubious subtweet about not being bothered by being a half of a whole – of course not, everyone LOOOVED Justin for his family story and abs. Max smirked to himself when he rolled his eyes at that thought. Justin _did _have nice abs… But no one ever seemed to love Max outside of Jax!

_But every time I do this my way._

Maybe he shouldn’t have been so hard on Justin after that subtweet. Justin had been with Max for a day now, secretly flew in to spend some time together. Secretly, because he knew Jax Stans would JUMP on it. Do you see now why it was ironic to talk about how expensive plane tickets are? Anyway, because of the subtweet, Max had gotten into a horrible argument with Justin. He was more affected by those hateful comments than he liked to admit.

_I get caught in the lies of the enemy._

Max could feel he was wrong about fighting Justin for what was going on on social media. He shouldn’t let hate affect his relationship, but he couldn’t help but want to be _Max_ to people, instead of _Max from Jax_. He hesitantly got up from his position on the bed. After the stupid argument, he’d slammed the door shut and left Justin in the living room. He knew he’d have to talk to Justin instead, maybe apologize for acting so unreasonable over a _subtweet_ out of all things.

He slowly entered the living room, a little unsure of what to do with his hands or how to walk properly. Justin immediately looked up. “Hey babe…”

Max gave him an apologetic look and Justin just nodded. “I know. Just come sit with me. It’s stupid to let some people who don’t even know us, drive us apart.”

“Exactly”, Max muttered, “But I just- You made everyone jump on Jax again and see you as my big hero to save me from my distressed state. So stupid.”

Justin shrugged. “The show has exploited your weakness into making you a submissive type of person to the fans. You have no idea how many people ask me why I don’t protect you, defend you and stuff. Like, you can hold your own.”

_I lay my troubles down._

Max nodded. “I’m stubborn as hell when it comes to accepting your help, aren’t I?”

“Yes, you are”, Justin filled in as he put his arm around Max. “But I like it.”

_I’m ready for you now._

Max cursed himself for letting some of the Jaxnation get to him so much. All this Max without Justin hate in comparison to Max with Justin love from fans, made him stubborn and petty. He had wanted to ignore Justin, cut him out of his public life, just to slam the door in the faces of those toxic comments. He had wanted to resent Justin and their relationship, just because of some bad fans.

He had deleted their playlist. Well, not deleted. It was hidden. Anyone who saved the link, could still access it. But those people didn’t know that of course.

_Bring me out_

He cast a glance at Justin who was submersed in some tv show. As much as Max wanted to push Justin away to regain his individuality to the public eye…

_Come and find me in the dark now_

He loved Justin. And Justin loved him. What they had, was beautiful. It could only be ruined by fans if he let them ruin it. And he wouldn’t let them ruin it any longer. He’d find a way to quit talking about Jax on social media so much without starting arguments with Justin. Truth be told, sometimes he _did _need Justin’s support on social media. As stubborn as he was, he found himself drowning in the hate so often, backing himself into a corner with each passing Tweet.

_Everyday by myself, I’m breaking down._

It was hard to always stand your ground against so many people because literally everything you said, could cause an explosion. Hell, his “#I” didn’t go down very well, did it? He clenched his jaw, thinking about it when Justin pulled him closer. “I can see you’re still thinking about it. I see those gears grinding in your head again.”

_I don’t wanna fight alone anymore._

“I don’t want to be defined by my relationship”, Max shrugged. “Is that so hard to understand? I don’t want to be a part of a whole. I want to be my own person, you can be your own person and together we’re amazing. A two-headed dragon!”

Justin chuckled. “Alright, we’ll be a hydra.”

“Doesn’t a hydra have three heads?” Max wondered.

Justin shrugged. “It’s only said two heads grow back if you cut one off. I guess that means if someone offends you, you’ll come after them twice as strong.”

_Bring me out from the prison of my own pride._

Max jolted upright on the couch. “YES! I like that!”

“Well, if someone offends US. Since we are a hydra together.”

_My god, I need a hope I can’t deny_.

“I guess. But I fight alone in this. I don’t want you to meddle”, Max asked. Justin nodded hesitantly. One step forward, two steps back. Max admitted he was a stubborn ass for rejecting his help every now and then, but now he already told Justin to stay out of it again.

_In the end I’m realizing I was never meant to fight on my own._

Though Justin knew better than no other what Max was like as soon as he had a certain idea in his head when it came to his public image. He vividly remembered the start – or… not start – of their romance on the show.

With Max picking Justin for the matchup ceremony because he simply had no clue who else to pick, Justin had figured Max felt their connection too. Max did feel their connection, but he’d been stuck in a role he had played for 23 years.

_Every little thing that I’ve known, is everything I need to let go_

Max had been afraid to show too much of himself after knowing Justin for only several days. Though a few days in the same house could reveal more about a person than multiple dates. Max had shut Justin out, told him they would NOT pursue their connection. Simply because he was afraid of how new it was to him. There were plenty of girls in the house. He could be matched to them. Right? Though Justin was someone that stayed on his mind, like a song stuck in his head to play over and over until he eventually came back on his decision to cut things off Justin.

_You’re so much bigger than the world I have made_.

And while Justin hadn’t been willing to forgive him right away and picked someone else for the matchup ceremony, he’d ended up back in Max’ proximity in the famous closet make out.

_So I surrender my soul_

What a story that followed after his stubborn decision not to have feelings for Justin cause it was too new. A sense of lingering internal homophobia, if you must label it that way. Though it was a nasty thing to think of because he couldn’t be more proud of who he had become. No doubt Justin played a part in who he was now.

_I’m reaching out for your hope. I lay my weapons down._

He had never felt such genuine love before. In his life. Not from a guy, not from a girl. Justin was special.

_I’m ready for you now._

Max took a deep breath. Justin did play a huge part in who he was now, in who he would continue to be and he was in no way ashamed of their relationship, but he envied how Justin’s fans wanted to know _him_ and Max’ fans were only ever Jax stans who didn’t care about him as a person. It was exhausting, but no reason to deny how amazing his journey with Justin had been so far.

_Bring me out._

He just wanted Jax gone off his feeds for a bit. So he could find some real support for him as a person from people. Not all the hate he had read on Reddit.

_Come and find me in the dark now_.

Although it felt stupid to rely on support from people he didn’t even know. Max lay his head on Justin’s shoulder and Justin shifted in the seat. Sure, he had Justin to rely on, but when Justin was 2000 miles away, he just felt so lost on his own against the mass. Also, with Kari riding his ass about an argument that was forever ago by now. He was cool with her, sure, but he was gonna respond if she got hostile, no matter what.

_Everyday by myself I’m breaking down._

“Stop”, Justin said. “You’ve been sighing so much that I can HEAR you think about literally every drama you’ve experienced in the past few months from Kari to awful Jax Stans who bash you for being a human being in love.”

Max chuckled. “How’d you know?”

“I know you”, Justin faced Max to look at him.

_I don’t wanna fight alone anymore_.

“Even if you don’t want me to fight your battles for you or defend you in the battle of your individuality, I am here for you. I have your back and I will continue to support you in person this week – through text all other times”, Justin promised.

_Bring me out from the prison of my own pride._

“That’s so sweet. I can handle it on my own-…” Max began but Justin cut him off. “I know that.”

_My God, I need a hope I can’t deny._

“I know you can stand your ground and I know you’ve been fighting alone all your life, but you don’t have to. I’m here for you and if it gets to much, just come to me. I won’t meddle online, but you can vent to me and if you say the word, I’ll kick their asses”, Justin promised. “Even though you CAN hold your own and protect yourself, you don’t HAVE TO.”

Max pecked Justin’s lips. “Thank you. I needed that.”

_In the end I’m realizing, I was never meant to fight on my own._

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment, they're our heavy fuel!
> 
> I don't think Jax is a match and I don't know if they're dating - because like Max said, they live 2k miles apart - but a fanboi can hope and I'll always have the edits to keep the Jax alive.
> 
> I wrote another fic about Max and Justin getting into a fight over the fans' pressure and actually breaking up over it, but it felt too disrespectful to post at the moment. If you wanna know why I think it's disrespectful, listen to the song I used for it; "You And Me" by Memphis May Fire and you'll understand. It was another songfic. Not sure it'll ever see the light of day.


End file.
